DESCRIPTION OF NEW YORK.--CHURCHES.--THEATRES.--AUCTIONS.--UNCLE SAM.
The bay of New York is a fine piece of water, studded with islands, and
is usually first viewed with sensations of agreeable surprise. From its
designation, I expected to find it presenting a semicircular form, like
most other bays; but to the eye of an individual entering from the
Atlantic, it assumes the appearance of a fine circular lake, about eight
miles in diameter; and, I think, that term would describe it more
correctly than the one adopted. In strict propriety, either is a
misnomer--it is an estuary. This magnificent sheet of water, by whatever
name it may be known, is bounded on the north by Manhatten Island, on
the southern extremity of which stands the city of New York.
It was just before sun set, on a delightful evening in the month of
October, allowed to be, by far the pleasantest period of a transatlantic
year, when we approached this commercial metropolis of the New World.
Here the atmosphere like that of Italy, is extremely clear; it imparts a
charming lustre to the surrounding landscape, and clothes the scenery
with an appearance of inconceivable brilliancy. Under these advantages
the prospect was most delightful. We seemed as if gently gliding over a
sea of fluid gold. In the distance, guarded by unnumbered vessels stood
the city, occupying a dignified station on the banks, and just at the
point of confluence of two of the finest rivers in the world. These, the
magnificent Hudson and the Eastern River, were seen pouring their
tributary floods of liquid light, into the bosom of this splendid
estuary. On the right, were the heights of Long Island--far off, on the
left, was Jersey City, stationed on the coast to which it gives its
name. The whole prospect, enriched by a pleasing variety of wood and
water, and viewed through the bright medium of this clear atmosphere,
rendered still more brilliant by the setting sun, combined to form a
scene most enchantingly beautiful--too grand, indeed, for the most
sanguine imagination to conceive.
My husband, with three of the other gentlemen, impatient at being
detained at the quarantine ground, had embraced the opportunity offered
by a passing steamer, of proceeding to the city before us; and, having
made arrangements for our accommodation, was waiting to receive us.
Those will sympathize with my feelings, on first setting foot on dry
land, who, like myself, have endured five weeks’ confinement in a ship;
which is indeed, nothing more than a floating prison, differing only
from a stationary one, in the probable event of a general jail delivery
by drowning.
Arrived at length and safely debarked, we soon found ourselves installed
as inmates of a genteel boarding-house, at the upper end of
Beekman-street, near the City Hall. On entering, I was a little
surprised at the appearance of the rooms--being much better furnished,
and presenting altogether a nobler air than I expected to find assumed
by a mere boarding-house, in this far-away country. After we had
forwarded our letters and refreshed ourselves, we retired to a
comfortable bed room on dry land; rendered doubly grateful, after the
tempestuous tossings of the ocean, and the fatigue produced by this day
of excitement.
The next morning we all arose early, and with glowing expectations, set
forward to perambulate the city. What strange sensations affect the mind
of a stranger, on first entering a foreign city--what an air of novelty
every thing appears to wear that the eye can rest upon! Every trifle
attracts attention, and our desires for information appear as if they
could never be satisfied.
This city of New York certainly is a noble place; it is divided into
fourteen wards, and contains about three hundred thousand inhabitants.
The houses are chiefly of red brick, and altogether its internal
appearance fully justified the impressions produced by the outline of
the previous night.
Broadway, as the principal street is called, is the leading feature, in
point of position and fashionable attraction; it runs in a direct line,
from south to north, through the heart of the city; and is, I believe,
about five miles and a half in length: its southern extremity
communicates with a fine promenade, leading to the south battery. This
fort is situated at the southern extremity of the city, just at the
termination of Manhatten Island, and at the point of confluence of the
East and Hudson Rivers. Its position, as a place of pleasurable resort,
is delightful; and from its commanding situation, it must, when
required, form an excellent post of defence. Long may it continue to be
the resort of the votaries of pleasure, rather than the theatre of
military glory.
Broadway is the fashionable lounge for all the black and white belles
and beaux of the city; its commodious and extensive _pave_, completely
covered with neat awnings, forms as agreeable a promenade, as is to be
found, perhaps, in any city in the world. Many a transatlantic poet has
endeavoured to immortalize this noble walk, and its glittering
pedestrians; but no one has succeeded in prevailing upon Pegassus to use
the _trottoir_ of Broadway.
Nearly parallel with Broadway, are several other streets, and these
again are connected with others, which intersect them at right angles.
The relative position of the streets in the old, or southern part of the
city, is somewhat confused; but nothing can exceed the regularity with
which the upper part is disposed, as a reference to the plan will
sufficiently testify. _Straightness_ is here the prevailing feature,
which, although it preserves the uniformity entire, yet never displays
street architecture so advantageously as the fine sweeping curve.
About a mile up Broadway, is the Park. This is a small enclosure of a
few acres, encircled with an iron railing, divided into walks, planted
with trees, furnished with seats, and made, every way as agreeable as it
is possible to make a small oasis of verdure, situated in the centre of
a populous city. At the upper end of the Park, stands the pride of New
York--the City Hall. It is a fine marble structure certainly, but it did
not strike me as possessing that magnificent appearance that I expected,
from a building composed entirely of marble. But tastes differ. One of
our company on this occasion, related an anecdote of an Irish gentleman,
whom he had conducted round the city. After surveying several of the
public buildings and many streets presenting architectural attractions,
all of which the Irishman had dismissed in succession with this remark,
“Very good indeed, but not like Dublin,”--he was suddenly brought within
full view of the City Hall. The Hibernian appeared struck with
astonishment, and unguardedly exclaimed, “But was this built here?”
There are several buildings of white marble in various parts of the
city; some also of brick, handsomely faced with Jersey free-stone, which
present a very genteel and substantial appearance. The air of newness
pervading the whole city, never fails to arrest the attention of the
stranger and excite admiration. Indeed, the whole of the buildings
present so clean an exterior, that they seem as if just finished. This
is accounted for by the absence of coal smoke, that impartial enemy to
architectural beauty, in the “old country,” as they here term England.
Coal is here only burned by the opulent, and although fashion has
declared in favour of its use, yet wood is the chief, and indeed, almost
the only fuel consumed here; it is certainly much healthier and cleaner,
than its sable substitute, but the matter of dollars and cents has its
share of influence.
The number of superb houses is very great: though it must be confessed
that, like the streets, their uniformity greatly detracts from the
effect they would produce under other circumstances. They appear all to
be built upon one plan; the chief feature of which is, that the dining
and drawing rooms are situated on the lower floor, and so arranged, as
by throwing open a large pair of folding doors, to form one splendid
apartment. Their furniture is magnificent in the extreme. In this, as
well as all other household embellishments, the natives pride
themselves; and certainly they succeed to admiration in their attempts
to produce a brilliant effect with slender materials.
The buildings for the celebration of public worship, are generally
denominated “churches;” I conceive this uniformity of designation is
caused by the absence of an established religion. St. Paul’s, in
Broadway, a Protestant episcopal church, is the principal ecclesiastical
edifice in the city. It is a plain modern structure composed of
free-stone, with a steeple of the same material; the east end is
ornamented by a colonnade, supporting a pediment enriched with a statue
of St. Paul. The whole is well disposed, and produces an agreeable
effect; but the interior is merely plain and neat, without any
pretension whatever to splendour. This church has the advantage of a
burial ground, a convenience somewhat questionable, and by no means
general throughout the city.
All the other churches are composed of either brick or red granite, and
appear to be erected without any design whatever to add to the beauty of
the city. There are neither domes nor towers; the steeples are by no
means lofty, and from the elevation of the surrounding dwellings, they
seem lower than they are in reality. Each of these erections shelters
one bell, or at most two; and when all these are in united operation on
a Sunday morning, the universal clanking may be conceived to be any
thing but harmonious.
Almost every sect and denomination of religion has its temple and its
supporters; but it must be conceded, that the most respectable part of
the citizens attend the Protestant episcopal churches; and the
proportion in this city, is acknowledged to correspond with that of the
larger towns in England.
There are two principal theatres, the Park and the Bowery; besides a
number of minor ones, continually springing up and declining. The
blacks, who are never behind in rivalling their superiors, contrive to
keep open one, and sometimes two theatres; where the popular characters
of Lady Macbeth, Juliet, the _fair_ Desdemona, and others, are all some
way sustained by the sable sisterhood. A lively inmate of our
boarding-house, amused us one morning at breakfast, with an account of
his last night’s entertainment at the black theatre, where a sable
“Richard” was the point of attraction. In order to please his audience,
the crooked-backed monarch politely accommodated his language to the
meridian of the place: whenever the word “York” occurred, he invariably
altered the text, and called it “New York!”--the “house of New York,”
&c. In this instance, the ladies were personated by negresses!
Rents are here much higher than in London. On investigation, I suppose
it would be found that the value of building ground in the lower part of
this city, is exceeded by no area of equal dimensions in
England--perhaps not in the world. The whole of the mercantile business
is transacted in that part of the city, which lies below the Park. On
inspecting the plan, the reader will perceive that the only direction
in which land can be obtained, is upwards, that is to the north; and, as
this is allowed by men of business, to be out of the market, the
merchant must either have his offices below the City Hall, or be
altogether excluded. The value of land in this section being
exorbitantly increased by competition, and the desire of all who have
business to transact to be as near the market as possible, joined to the
scarcity of room, combine to raise the price of land to an extravagant
height in every part of the city.
It is considered probable, that New York will at some future period,
cover the whole of Manhatten Island. The village of Brooklyn, on the
opposite coast of Long Island, and Jersey City, on the western bank of
the Hudson, are also becoming very populous from their proximity to this
grand market of the Union. A well regulated communication by steam is
kept up with these two outports of commerce; a boat starts for the
former every three minutes, and for the latter, every ten minutes during
the day.
New York, is, beyond dispute, the first commercial city in the New
World, and receives into its ports, vessels laden with the produce and
manufactures of every quarter of the globe. But the retail department of
trade is here conducted in a slovenly and most irregular manner; so much
so that it is advisable for the buyer to be acquainted with the value of
the article he intends to purchase, before he closes his bargain; or he
will run the risk of paying a penalty proportionable to his ignorance.
Auction sales are here numerous beyond conception. Hence that part of
the inhabitants having family establishments, and other extensive
consumers, supply themselves from these, as frequently as possible.
These sales are effected in the lower part of the city; and a red banner
displayed, serves as an _insigne_ of an auction sale in this city, as a
spear answered the same purpose in ancient Rome.
It is true, that goods sold in this manner, are disposed of in very
large quantities, as sales on this principle are expected to be
frequented only by shop-keepers; but this difficulty is frequently
obviated, by a few families uniting and entering into a reciprocal
engagement, to make purchases as opportunities occur, of certain
articles agreed upon by the compact. The high prices demanded in the
shops, almost compel the public to resort to this expedient in self
defence.
Some few however, make very odd kind of bargains at these sales. I
remember one of our friends, a young gentleman, purchasing at an auction
three hundred fans! This reminded me of Moses, in the “Vicar of
Wakefield,” and the gross of green spectacles: but simplicity is far
from being fashionable in this part of the world, and poor Moses would
have stood no better chance here, than in the hands of Ephraim
Jenkinson.
There are, nevertheless, a vast number of good shops, and without doubt
many are substantial and highly respectable; but still, I never could
heartily admire their system of transacting business; it required an
Englishwoman to be so provokingly cautious and suspicious, if she wished
to prevent the Yankees from being “too smart” for her. A term they use
triumphantly on every fresh display of low trickery.
Perhaps there are not, proportionably, a greater number of sharpers here
than in London; but there is certainly a marked difference in the
treatment they receive. The smile of approbation bestowed upon a clever
villain, while relating his witty rogueries is shockingly misplaced; and
in my opinion, evinces a species of moral cowardice. A severe
castigation would serve the interests of society much more effectually.
Indeed, it were better to lead the life of an anchoret at once, than to
associate with such characters as I have seen admitted into the company
of merchants, judges, and professional men. But, alas! the convenient
excuse of “business purposes,” too often serves as a mantle to cover, if
it cannot justify, a multitude of sins.
To my great surprise, on the other hand, I found the crime of smuggling
held in utter abhorrence. I rejoice at this, and from all I observed, I
think it would be exceedingly difficult to find an American that could
be prevailed upon to engage in a smuggling transaction of ever so
trivial a nature. To cheat “Uncle Sam,” as they term their government,
is with them, a crime paramount! And they never fail to treat those
foreigners with ineffable contempt, who are so perfidious as to defraud
their own governments. I have heard instances of some of our British
sharp fellows being sadly taken by surprise, through ignorance of this
peculiarity of the national character.
Without hesitation, I allow that every species of villany ought to meet
with the unmitigated condemnation of all just men. The question then
naturally arises: How is it that those who regard roguery with such
indifference, when practised on private individuals--nay, smile with
approbation, if the transaction be associated with any thing
witty--should single out the vice of smuggling, as the only one that
deserves exclusive reprobation? I leave the question open; but the
general opinion is, that as this crime is regarded by far too many on
this side the Atlantic, as a venial offence, it is placed on the
criminal code of “Uncle Sam,” through a pure love of opposition.
This appellation, “Uncle Sam,” is willingly acknowledged as the national
soubriquet of the “free-born citizens of the United States,” while on
the other hand, the terms, “Brother Jonathan” and “Yankee,” are
considered highly offensive. As the origin of this favoured term is not
generally known in England, I beg leave to insert a verbatim copy from
an American newspaper, of the baptism of this independent personage,
together with a description of his sponsors.
“Immediately after the declaration of the last war with England,
Elbert Anderson, Esq. of this city, then a contractor, visited
Troy, on the Hudson, where was concentrated, and where he purchased
a large quantity of provisions--beef, pork, &c. The inspectors of
these articles at that place were Messrs. Ebenezer and Samuel
Wilson. The latter gentleman (invariably known as “_Uncle Sam_”)
generally superintended in person a large number of workmen, who,
on this occasion, were employed in overhauling the provisions
purchased by the contractor for the army. The casks were marked E.
A.--U. S. This work fell to the lot of a facetious fellow in the
employ of the Messrs. Wilsons, who, on being asked by some of his
fellow workmen the meaning of the mark (for the letters U. S. for
United States were almost then entirely new to them,) said, “he did
not know, unless it meant _Elbert Anderson_ and _Uncle
Sam_”--alluding exclusively, then, to the said “Uncle Sam” Wilson.
The joke took among the workmen, and passed currently; and “Uncle
Sam” himself being present, was occasionally rallied by them on the
increasing extent of his possessions. Many of these workmen being
of a character denominated “food for powder,” were found shortly
after following the recruiting drum, and pushing toward the
frontier lines, for the double purpose of meeting the enemy, and of
eating the provisions they had lately laboured to put in good
order. Their old jokes of course accompanied them, and before the
first campaign ended, this identical one first appeared in
print--it gained favour rapidly, till it penetrated and was
recognised in every part of our country, and will, no doubt
continue so long as U. S. remains a nation. It originated precisely
as above stated; and the writer of this article distinctly
recollects remarking, at the time when it first appeared in print,
to a person who was equally aware of its origin, how odd it would
be, should this silly joke, originating in the midst of beef, pork,
pickle, mud, salt, and hoop-poles, eventually become a national
cognomen.”
Besides the little information this long noisy paragraph conveys, it
will serve as a fair specimen of the loose and rambling style of their
literature, which their oratory somewhat resembles.
When a foreigner decides upon remaining in the United States, and wishes
to be naturalized, he first “declares his intentions;” that is, he has
his name enrolled in the national records, and receives documents, which
will, at the expiration of five years, if he reside in the States during
that period, entitle him to the full privileges of a native. The
expences of this affair amounts to no more than five dollars.
The immense number of emigrants invests the city with the appearance of
a miscellaneous specimen of human beings, from all quarters of the
world; yet there is a sufficient majority of native inhabitants fully
to establish a nationality of character. By the best information I could
obtain, one-fourth of the city are natives of Ireland; and, I think,
that all other foreigners may be comprised in one-sixth of the
remainder: these, with 50,000 negroes, taken from the gross population
returns, will leave about 225,000 native citizens. This may be about a
correct estimate; but it is really a very difficult question to answer
correctly, the statistical accounts are so much at variance.
Generally speaking, the Irish meet with a much better reception than the
English. So indeed, do all other foreigners; for the natives bear a kind
of family grudge against John Bull, and it has long been fashionable,
for many to evince their patriotism, by discharging their resentment on
the English, whom they consider as being more especially his legitimate
offspring.